Sequoia Wolves
by Lixie Lorn
Summary: Wolves, social animals that hunt in deadly packs. Sequoia, an immense type of tree. What is better for a unit of Konohan elite? Well, when most of the Konoha twelve have been intensively trained to fight as one, a new team is born. The Sequoia Wolves.
1. Formation

_Hello. Plotbunnies breed. (nodnod) I've said it before, and I'll say it again. They BREED._

Premise: The Third would never have allowed ROOT to take Naruto. But, he must have acknowledged that he had the potential to be the most powerful ninja in all of Konoha. With a little persuasion, he could certainly be persuaded to take special measures.

Spoilers for those who don't know who Naruto's dad is. (Eyeroll)

Ohyeah, and I don't own Naruto. Duh.

Sequoia Wolves

Chapter One: Formation

"Hokage-sama." came a hard voice.  
The Sandaime, Sarutobi Hiruzen, groaned to himself.

It was Danzou.

"Surely you cannot believe that the Kyuubi-brat should be allowed to become a ninja." he began.  
"I surely can." replied the kage coolly.  
"Without supervision, he could become a danger to the entire village."  
"…maybe so." said Sarutobi suddenly.

Danzou's eye widened.  
_Finally, the old fool sees sense._  
"I believe that he would serve best within my organisation, Root.."  
"And I think that there should be a special unit formed just to keep him well motivated, well trained, and utterly loyal." replied Hiruzen, smiling to himself. "Thank you _so_ much for your suggestion."

Danzou gaped.  
He had most certainly been one-upped.  
He left.

"Michimi!" called Sarutobi to his secretary. "Call together the clan heads for me."  
Danzou may have, unwittingly, of course, had an amazing idea.

* * *

"I expect you're all wondering why I called you here tonight." began Sarutobi.  
"Yes." said Shibi with a single nod.  
"But cut it with the clichés." said Tsume.  
"And it's midday." pointed out Shikaku.  
"Nonetheless. We are here about Uzumaki Naruto." continued the Hokage.  
There was a sudden change in the atmosphere. Seconds earlier, the clan leaders had been slightly bored, irritated even, believing they had better things to do.  
Now their full attention was being given to the Hokage.

"It has been brought to my attention that Naruto could become the villages greatest ninja. Or, it's worst enemy." said Sarutobi grimly.

You could hear the wind blowing outside in the gap between sentences.

"I've decided that he shall not be entered into the academy. Instead, I intend to form a special unit to work with him. This shall be composed of one member each of seven different clans. Five of them are represented here. Also, they shall be taught by a member from each of the clans, as well as any others supplementary. They'll need a normal teacher…"  
"Iruka." said Shikaku. "He seems to be the boy's only friend."  
"Makes sense." said Sarutobi. "I'll arrange it."  
"Hn. I don't like it." said Uchiha Fugaku. "How can we trust him?"  
"That's what the team is for." said Sarutobi confidently. "I believe the team would be best composed of Nara, for intelligence, Uchiha, for strength, Hyuuga, for sight, Inuzuka, for loyalty, Seiha, for basic skill, Fudan, for optimisim, and Yamanaka, for charisma."

Fugaku scowled. Shikaku, Hiashi, Tsume and Inoichi looked honoured.  
"I do not wish to send a single member of my clan." said Hiashi. "I believe it would be best if I sent one from each house."  
"If you wish." said Sarutobi dismissively.  
"All in favour of the formation of the team, the Sequoia Wolves?" said Sarutobi with a slight smile.  
"Sequoia wolves?" queried Tsume.  
"Wolves are social creatures. Loyal to a fault, and deadly. And what better than such a mighty tree to symbolise the Leaf village?" said Sarutobi. "All in favour?"

Of all the clan heads present, only one voted no.  
Uchiha Fugaku.

* * *

"Shikamaru, Sasuke, Hinata, Neji, Kiba, Tenten, Lee, Ino." said Sarutobi, throwing his arms wide. "Welcome. I would like you to meet Naruto."

The eight five and six year olds exchanged looks of surprise. So adult liked _that_ boy.  
"Naruto is the son of the Yondaime Hokage." he said gravely.

Everyone stared, shocked, at Naruto, except the boy himself who stared at Sarutobi.

"It is also his doing that the city was saved from the Kyuubi. He is its jailor. It is bound within him where it serves him, and through him Konoha." he continued. "We all owe him a great debt, and if the village would only realise that…"

He sighed.  
"You're here because a special unit has been formed. You nine are going to be studying-a lot. By the time you'd normally be out of the academy, you're going to be at least chunin level. We want you to support each other, become a second family. Share your technique, your dreams, everything." he said. "WE're going to get the best teachers from all of your clans, and beyond. Can you do this?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" chorused nine voices.

* * *

_Yaaay. More fics to write._

_(Headdesks)_


	2. Intensive Training

_Yeah. Shut it. XD_

Chapter Two-Intensive Training

"Shikamaru, give me a hand please…" sighed Nara Daika

Monday. October 10th. Eight years-to the day-since the Kyuubi had attacked.  
Nine children, about eight, each of them, were training in a large compound. One was blue eyed, blonde, and looked happier than he had done at any other point in his life.

The next had dark blue hair, pale lavender eyes, pupil-less, the sign of the Byakugan. She looked a little shy, and kept making sidelong glances at the first.

The third had black hair, and similar eyes, blue grey, and still Byakugan. He was older, and had a more focussed expression than the others.

Another had black hair, spiky, and black eyes as well. His expression was one of intense concentration, as if he would force his techniques to work through willpower.

Fifth was a brown haired boy, with red tattoos on his cheeks. He looked a little bored, but was working hard. There was a small dog sitting behind him, white furred.

Then there was another girl, black haired with dark brown eyes. She looked confident, and a little older than most of the others, as was the male Byakugan user.

Seventh was a girl, with blue eyes, blonde hair in a ponytail with one bang covering half of her face. She looked determined, as the youngest of them.

Another was black haired, also black eyed, in a ponytail behind him.

There was another boy, dejected in the corner. He had black hair and eyes, and overlarge eyebrows. He was being comforted by someone who looked very much like a larger version of himself, other than their clothes.

All of the young ninja were dressed the same, in a green jacket and trousers that were so dark as to be almost black. They had pouches of weaponry at their sides. There were minor differences, such as the black spiral printed on the back of the first boy's jacket-Naruto, and the small red and white fan symbol on the fourth boy's-Sasuke's.

All, save the last-Lee-where attempting a particular technique, being taught by the shinobi at the front, Nara Daiki.  
Daiki had black hair in a ponytail very similar to the younger Nara, Shikamaru, and the same bored eyes. He had the Konohan flak jacket, over a grey shirt and black trousers.

"Shikamaru, give me a hand here." said the Nara.

The younger boy sighed.  
"Kay. What you have to do." he started slowly. "You know when you focus chakra to your feet, to walk on water and stuff?"  
There were nods of assent.  
"Well, after you get the chakra there. _Extend _it. Into your shadow." he explained. "Look, pay attention to what it feels like. Pay attention to where the chakra comes from" said Daiki. "Kagemane no Jutsu."

His shadow extended out, encompassing that of Naruto, Hinata, Neji, Sasuke, Kiba, Tenten and Ino.  
Each one gave a startled cry as they _felt _what the Naras where trying to describe.

Daiki dropped the technique, and seven voices cried.  
"Kagemane no Jutsu!"

Seven shadows stretched out, striking that of Daiki.  
He smiled.

* * *

_Around a year earlier, 7AK  
_* * *

"Yuuta, I'd like you to make sure that both you and Sasuke are at the Wolf's House tonight." said Sarutobi bitterly.  
"Why?" asked Yuuta.

Uchiha Yuuta had the black hair common among the Uchiha clan, and the same black eyes, ones that hid the Sharingan.  
"That wasn't a request." replied the Sandaime shortly.  
Yuuta blinked, and nodded.  
As he went to find Sasuke, he began to wonder what the reason could be…

* * *

"Sasuke?" said Yuuta, sadly, waking up the seven year old. His face was red with tears.  
"Yuuta-san?" asked Sasuke, reaching full wakefulness in seconds.  
"The rest of the clan is dead. It was Itachi who did it."  
"Itachi was the strongest of us…" muttered Yuuta. "I don't know if the Third himself could defeat him…"  
"Then I'll become stronger than the Third." said Sasuke bitterly. "I'll train until I can become the Hokage myself."  
"That's a good aim…" said Yuuta quietly, sadly. "Don't lose sight of what matters… like Itachi did…"

* * *

_October 10__th__, 5AK  
_* * *

"Naruto." said Sarutobi, motioning him closer. "I'm very sorry about all of this, being watched constantly and trained relentlessly…"  
"Why would you be sorry?" asked Naruto, curious. "Maybe they'll be my friends…"

Sarutobi smiled, and reached into his robe, drawing something out.  
"This is a present for you, Naruto-kun. Maybe it will remind you that there's always someone who cares… and more than that. This is why your father was so feared… did you know that he was the Yellow Flash of Konoha, feared so much by Rock Ninja they were told to flee on sight?"

Naruto stared wide eyed.  
"Wow!"

Sarutobi passed the item to him, a kunai that split like a trident, with complicated kanji written upon the hilt.

"Good luck." said Sarutobi.

* * *

_9 AK  
_* * *

"A good morning to all of you." said Inuzuka Tsume with a superior grin. "You don't know how honoured you are. The Hokage has requested that every one of you receives a ninken. Kiba, you already know who you'll be having. Hinata, Neji, Sasuke, Tenten, Ino, Lee, Shikamaru. The dogs are in here for you to choose from, I'm sure you'll all find one. Hana!"

Another Kunoichi entered, younger, smiling briefly, and took most of the genin into another room.  
"What about me?" asked Naruto, a little petulantly.  
Tsume vanished into another room briefly, and came out with a puppy.  
Well, almost a puppy.

"This is a fox cub…" said Naruto.  
"Half fox." said Tsume. "We made a deal with a foreign clan that uses Ninja foxes. He's yours, Naruto. Take good care of him-and remember that I and the entire clan consider you, and your team, honorary members.

Naruto smiled, and embraced her suddenly.  
"Don't push your luck, gaki." grumbled Tsume-but she didn't push him away.

* * *  
_7 AK  
_* * *

"Why are you so down, Lee-kun?" asked the impressive form of Maito Gai.  
"I can't do anything they can…" murmured the young boy-actually a relative of Gai's. Which explained the eyebrows. "I can't mould chakra."  
"What makes a ninja a ninja, Lee?" asked Gai.  
"Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Taijutsu." responded Lee. That was something Iruka had drilled into them over the year and a half of basic ninja skills they had done.  
"Taijutsu." repeated Gai.  
"Big deal." said Lee. "Whoever heard of a ninja with only taijutsu?"  
"I did, Lee-kun!" barked Gai.  
"What was his name?" asked Lee.  
"His name was Fudan Lee, member of the Sequoia Wolves! Though, he did have an excellent teacher-not to mention skills with herbs, medicine, the Jyuken-style-which-doesn't-actually-need-moulding-just-pushing-chakra-out-of-your-palm-and-aiming-at-organs, and Kenjutsu-all arranged by that wonderful teacher!" said Gai all in one supremely optimistic voice.

Lee's eyes widened.  
"G…Gai-sensei…."  
"Leee!" cried Gai.  
They embraced.

* * *

_Some time Before  
_* * *

"Iruka…" said Sarutobi. "I'd like you to give them these on their seventh birthday. There's one for each of them… I thought the team needed a signature technique."

Iruka blinked as he saw what was on the scrolls.  
"But… I don't know any of these."

Sarutobi laughed.  
"Pick one and get working then." he chortled.

* * *

_7 AK  
_* * *

"Happy birthday, Naruto." said Iruka.  
Naruto, blue eyes wide, took the scroll offered to him, and looked at it.  
"It's a very powerful technique." said Iruka. "It's from the Hokage."  
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu…" read Naruto in wonderment.  
He hugged Iruka, and then ran off, calling back.  
"You're the best, Iruka-sensei! I'm gonna go find the Hokage!" shouted Naruto back.

Iruka smiled.

* * *  
_10 AK  
_* * *

"Naruto, Shikamaru, Lee, Tenten, Hinata, Neji, Kiba, Sasuke and Ino. And the dogs." said the third Hokage. "Sequoia Wolves. Consider yourself active."

* * *

"Geez… how troublesome." complained Shikamaru back at the Wolf house. "We're gonna have to do missions soon…"  
"It's great!" said Naruto. "I'm gonna show everyone how hard I've been working!"  
"I'm going to show everyone how strong our Youth burns!" proclaimed Lee.  
"Oh, drop it." said Tenten, who was getting truly exasperated with Lee and Gai.  
"Um… I hope it's not too hard." murmured Hinata.  
"Hinata-kun, it is our destiny to become powerful. We will be fine." said Neji.  
"Yeah, yeah, drop the destiny stuff." growled Kiba. "I can do what I want, it isn't written."  
"Hn. One day I'm going to be able to beat every one of you, then you'll remember the days when you stood a chance." said Sasuke. There was a slight smile on his lips.  
"But you wouldn't beat me, right, Sasuke-kuuuun?" asked Ino, drooping herself on his shoulder.

Sasuke pointedly looked away, saying 'Hn' again, but the blush kind of detracted from it.

"Well, Wolves." said Iruka, interrupting the conversation, and general laughter at Sasuke, as he came in. "We have a mission. Something of great cultural importance to the village has been stolen, and we have to get it back. It is a B-rank, possibly higher, mission." he said.

Dead silence.  
"Troublesome." sighed Shikamaru.

* * *

Kagemane no Jutsu-Shadow Imitation Technique

* * *

_Well, there you go. Phwew. I miss Chronological order._


	3. Blue Hunt

_Knowledge of fillers can be very, very useful. XDD_

_...huh. I thought i'd put up Chapter 2 before. Ohwell.  
_

Chapter Three-Blue Hunt

"Your target is a Konoha-nin by the name of Morino Idate. He is a genin, but has shown prodigious skill. Unfortunately, he has used it to steal a vitally important scroll-and the sword of the Second Hokage, the Sword of the Flying Thunder God." said Iruka grimly.

* * *

"Right." said Shikamaru, stifling a yawn. "If we split into three groups, it'll be easier to find him. Lee, Tenten. You come with me. Neji, you take Kiba and Hinata. Naruto, you go with Sasuke and Ino."

There was a circle of nods.  
"Kiba, you go first." said Shikamaru. "We'll follow after you to each side, you're the best with the ninken."

There were nine dogs around them, all white or grey furred, save one with bright orange fur-and two tails.

They split, three ninja and three dogs leaving in each direction, one straight ahead, and one to each side away from the village.

It only took a few moments for Kiba to find a scent, turning on a large tangent. A fair distance to each side, the other two groups altered course as well.

They were homing in.

* * *

"Stupid boy, you really though you could make chunin by doing this?"  
"W…what?"

In the trees fifty metres away, Neji recounted what was happening to Shikamaru, having caught up, reunited and begun to plan what to do.  
"He's a jonin." said Neji in an undertone. "His name is Rokusho Aoi, and he's meant to be a sensei. Idate's."  
"So he's behind this." sighed Shikamaru. "Can we take him? He's a jonin."  
"And we're chunin, and outnumber him eight to one." said Kiba. "What of it? Let's do it!"~  
"Yeah!" agreed Naruto. "Let's not waste anymore time. Let's do it!"  
"Dobe." said Sasuke. "We need to have a plan. And then charge."

"Troublesome." groaned Shikamaru at the argument.

* * *

"Kagemane no Jutsu!" came two voices, from opposite sides of the clearing.  
A pair of shadows spiralled in, one capturing the surprised Idate, the other headed for Aoi.

The Blue haired ninja flipped backwards away from it, drawing a cylinder he had in his belt, channelling a pulse of chakra into it.

Lightning formed itself out of the handle, creating a blade with an ominous buzzing sound.

Shikamaru gulped, cancelling his kagemane. On the other side of the clearing, Ino maintained her hold on the panicked Idate.

"Tsuuga!" came four cries.  
"Jyuken!" came another two.  
"Konoha Senpu!" came a seventh.

As an onslaught of various taijutsu flew towards Aoi, he simply swung the Thunder sword.  
Its arc caught them all, a dangerous shock knocking them to the floor.

But from behind him,  
"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

Aoi turned quickly, but not fast enough to avoid a large fireball striking him in the chest, throwing him backwards.

Where eight ninken and one fox waited, transformed into each of the Wolves by Jujin Bunshin.

"_Tsuuuuga_!"

* * *

"I told you we could take him." said Kiba confidently.  
"It was the planning that did it." sniffed Neji.  
"I think it was both." said Hinata quietly.

"And I think that the flames of youth were all we needed!" said Lee dramatically, picking up the handle of the Thunder God Sword, and forcing out a spark of chakra.

It flared to life.  
"Spoils of war!" he proclaimed dramatically, pointing the blade to the sky.

* * *

_Good?_


	4. Seperate Ways

_Ah, the montage. Best time showing technique ever. MONTAGE NO JUTSU._

Chapter Four-Separate Ways

The lord looked left, then right, wildly.  
There was no way anyone was coming for him, no sirree… his guard were the best, the _Best. _No way. No way…

"Huh. I thought you'd be taller." said a playful voice.  
He turned like lightning, eyes widening in shock. In front of him now was a girl, maybe twelve, wearing a black-green t-shirt and jacket, and a split skirt that was just about a dark purple. Her hair was blonde, in a long ponytail, and she was apparently cleaning her nails with the business end of a senbon.

"How the hell did you get past my guards?" he hissed, unnaturally afraid of the girl.  
"Don't blame me." she shrugged. "Blame them."

He blinked, and ran to a window.

Outside, two boys, wearing the same blackish jackets, shirts and trousers, were fighting about fifty soldiers.  
Well, two different. About ten in actual fact.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"  
"Kaen Bunshin no Jutsu!"

A pair of flashes, and their numbers suddenly double, one boy, blonde haired, suddenly having a total of fifteen of himself, while the other, a black haired, pale boy with a fan insignia, had five.

Naruto shook his head, drawing a triple pointed kunai.  
"Shunshin."

He vanished, reappearing outside the melee, large numbers of warriors falling decapitated behind.

"However often you do it, it won't be as good as Hiraishin." commented Sasuke, forming another handsign, a clone suddenly turning to a fiery silhouette, causing horrific burns to a mercenary trying to grapple with it.

A stray arrow struck another of the dark haired boy's clones, and with a puff of smoke he was revealed as a bright red dog.  
He picked the dog up, feeding him a tiny pill, forming a handsign to change him back-and then Sasuke's eyes went red, and he turned lightning fast, crying out Gatsuuga and quite literally tearing the archer who launched the arrow to shreds, with the previously injured dog accompanying him.

"Little protective of Shuiromi, teme." teased Naruto, guards backing away from him.  
"You'd do the same for Nikitsu, baka." was the reply from Sasuke, guards running from him red and black Sharingan eyes, as a two tailed, slightly orange wolf cub leapt onto the jinchuriki's back.

Inside, the nobleman whimpered, running for the door.  
Where Ino stood, yawning slightly.

"Yeah, don't try that." said Ino from the window, a small, purplish dog-that the man had only just managed to see-on her shoulder barking at him.

He looked back and forth at the two girls and the dog, his mouth forming soundless cries of fear.  
The one at the door suddenly grabbed him, as if in a hug, while the other formed a group of handsigns.

"Kahenkumo Daibakuha." she said.

The one holding the terrified man in a death grip exploded, a cloud of pink flower petals surrounding him, almost hiding him from sight.

Then every petal exploded simultaneously with the power of an exploding tag.  
Ino sighed, vaulting out of the window, meeting Sasuke and Naruto as they walked through a petrified group of soldiers.

"You know, we need more interesting missions." she said. "Right, Rairakku?"  
The dog on her shoulder yipped. "Sasuke-kuuun?"  
"Uh… sure." he said.  
"No Hn for Ino-chaaaan… noooo…" teased Naruto.  
"Shut up, baka." was the chorused reply.

* * *

"Alright, gaki. This is what a mission is like." announced Tenten, looking around at the kids-the kids who were a year and an infinity younger than them.

She, Shikamaru, Lee and their ninken were taking the class out on a C-rank mission-one they could easily deal with on a bad day, and would be fine with even with the students. They were accompanying a minor nobleman through a small mountain pass, their only enemies likely to be bandits.

Shikamaru was staring up at the clouds, despairing of ever finishing the game of Shogi he had at home. Tenten was trying to teach the genin how to hit the bullseye with a handful of weapons at once. Lee had been persuaded-by Tenten-that he should pull the cart.

"Oh, a pack of gaki, they are, they are." mocked a single man, standing on a raised rock to their left.

In a flash, all three of them were in front of the cart, the students arrayed about the client, fear and resolution mixed in their expression.

"This is going to be very fun, very fun." giggled the man attacking them, taking in Shikamaru's tattered black jacket, Tenten's sleeveless, tight black t-shirt and Lee's odd black training suit.

"Fun and short." retorted Tenten, drawing a katana from a sheath on her back, while Lee took a short cylinder from his belt.

A flash of chakra, and the cylinder lit up with a blade of lightning.  
"The sword of the thunder god, the thunder god. This is going to be interesting, interesting." nodded the man.

He looked young, maybe twenty at the most, with a young face, short white hair and sparkling green eyes. He wore a white, golden edged robe that had a tattered cloak section, giving him the appearance of some angelic crow. The headband on his forehead was scratched beyond legibility.

"Tenshi Hane, take flight, take flight!" he proclaimed.

The cloak rippled, and burst into an immense pair of white, feathery wings, and the ninja took to the air.

A senbon found its unerring way to his heart, and he yelped, falling maybe a foot.  
Shikamaru and Lee both looked at her, and she smiled.  
"Nice shot. Senbon only work on pressure points, in large numbers, or in the eye. Try kunai." she commented to one of the genin, who held a handful of senbon with a determined look.

Lee flashed chakra under his feet, and leapt skyward at the ninja.

Who proceeded to fashion a golden bow from chakra, and launch a shining arrow of energy at Lee.  
"Shakishaki Tenshi, launch, launch!"

The Sword of the Thunder God intercepted the arrow, dissolving the power to nothingness, as Lee continued his flight undaunted.

The man screamed as the lightning struck him, and he fell an entire three feet, kicking Lee into the ground as he did.  
"That wasn't very nice, very nice." he complained. "Sooo… Tenshi Yakouu, bring the dark, the dark!"

There was an almighty flash of light, hurting their eyes, and thousand pinpricks appeared in the sky above them, blocking out the light of the sun.

As they flew down at an amazing speed, they became visible as golden-white arrows.  
Lee held his weapon over his head, swinging it in an arc that deflected arrows from him.  
Shikamaru groaned as he realised what they were, forming a quick handsign.  
"Taijuu Kage Bunshin No Jutsu."

Maybe twenty clones appeared, each one protecting one of the genin with his own body-but the extra trying to grab arrows.  
A couple managed to succeed, launching them with chakra back at their creator, but he destroyed them with Shakishaki Tenshi, before doing the same to the clones.

Shikamaru leant against the cart, panting, sliding down.  
"Troublesome…" he groaned.  
"We've got this, Shikamaru-kun!" said Lee, glancing upwards determinedly. "Besides. The ninken have returned from their scouting!"

Three small dogs were leaping down the cliff walls, one black furred, one white furred with bright green eyes, and one with slightly pink fur.  
"Kuroimaru!" gasped Shikamaru.  
"Midorimi!" said Lee, gleefully.  
"What'd you find, Baramaru?" asked Tenten.

There were a series of barks.

"Just the one insane ninja…" she muttered.  
"I resent that, gaki, gaki!"

Tenten formed a handsign.  
"Daiga Bunshin no Jutsu!" she announced. "Lee, throw!"  
"Hai!"

Lee grabbed the clone as she materialised, holding a katana ready. He span her, and threw her, chakra enhanced, at the mad ninja, who just giggled and sang his sword. Which went right through her.

Her blade cut at his wing, severing it.  
He screamed, the technique ending, crashing to the floor. The clone landed, with no dust.

"I get it." panted the ninja. "Focus is the blade, I have to destroy that, destroy that… Tenshin Te, fire, fire!"

He pointed at the clone, a beam of gold-white light destroying the cloned weapon-and the clone dissolved into nothing.

"Yeah, well." said Tenten. "You've still lost."  
"Kagemane no Jutsu."

Shikamaru's shadow struck his.

"You gaki are good, very good!" he proclaimed. "Kekeke… I shall let you pass, let you pass."

"Can we trust him?" said Tenten quietly.  
"I don't want to kill him unless we have to." said Shikamaru.  
"You can trust me, trust me. I keep my promises, promises." said the ninja loudly, hearing them.

Shikamaru released his technique.  
"The fastest way is that way!" said the ninja. "That way! We will meet again, meet again!"

He regrew his wings, and vanished into the sky.  
"What… just happened?" asked the client.

* * *

"I do not like this mission." said Neji quietly. "It seems, unfair. Unyouthful as Lee-kun would say."  
"Yeah, well. Those Iwa bastards probably treat the target like a demon for her powers." said Kiba  
"Th…that's Mist…" pointed out Hinata timidly. "Iwa likes their Kekkei Genkai."  
"Still. I hear her cousin is the only other clan member with it and he got thrown out." said Kiba.  
"Because he blew up the Kage's palace." said Neji.  
"They need to practice!" said Kiba.  
"G…guys… we need to focus." said Hinata. "We're almost there."

The sight of Iwagakure came into view.  
They ghosted over the wall, silent, unseen.

And in but moments they found a small building, barely enough to house one or two ninja-yet it apparently housed four.

But they only needed one.

They entered through a windowspace, and checked the rooms downstairs. One contained a man and a woman, asleep. They left, as quietly as they could, for the next room. Upstairs, they found a baby in one room-and then a nine year old girl in another.

"Bingo." whispered Kiba.

"Who are you?" said the girl looking at them.  
They froze.

"Are you Waza Manami?" asked Hinata, quietly.

The girl had blonde hair, in a short ponytail, yet covering her left eye with her fringe. Her eyes shone blue-and on the palm of each of her hands was a small, fanged mouth, currently shut.

"Yep." she said, her happy, curious voice infectious.  
"Do you like it here?" asked Hinata, face downcast.  
"Umm… not really." she said. "It's too small… and no-one talks to me but my family… and they won't let me practice my art, un!"

"Would you like to come with us?" asked Kiba.  
"Yeah! Where are we going..? Will there be candy?" asked the girl, swapping from question to question at lightning speed.

Kiba suddenly hugged her, and she squealed happily.  
Neji looked like he was wrestling with himself, and then he hugged them too, Hinata joining them a moment later.

Kiba and Neji moved back moments later, straightening their clothes with a series of exaggerated grunts.  
"Get anything you want to take." said Hinata.

Within a minute, they were running from the house, the girl being carried by Kiba.  
"Did they say that they had someone to adopt her?" asked Neji.  
"Um… no." said Hinata. "They were hoping someone would take her in when she arrived."  
"Then she's ours." said Kiba, hugging the petite and now asleep girl.  
The two Hyuuga nodded.

As they reached the border, Kiba said something very stupid.  
"Well, that was easy."

Three ninja immediately saw them, running after them.

They stopped, Hinata turning and thrusting her palm into the man's chest, destroying his chakra pathways. Neji disabled two vital nerves like lightning, and Kiba aimed for the general direction of the heart, killing his target.

"See. Jyuken beats dog-attacks anyday." said Neji, in a display of what was, for him, extreme comedy.  
"So, you don't need Haiiromi then." remarked Kiba.  
"Get away from my puppy."

* * *

(Taijuu) Kage Bunshin no Jutsu-(Mass) Shadow Clone Technique  
Kaen Bunshin no Jutsu-Blaze Clone Technique  
Shunshin-Body Flicker  
Hana Bunshin-Flower Clone  
Kahenkumo Daibakuha-Great Exploding Petal Cloud  
Tenshi Hane-Angels Wing

Shakishaki Tenshi-Angel Precision  
Tenshi Yakouu-Storm of Angelic Arrows  
Daiga Bunshin no Jutsu-Blade Clone Technique  
Tenshin Te-Angel Palm  
Kagemane no Jutsu-Shadow Possession Technique  
Jyuken-Gentle Fist

* * *

_Yay for montage! Also, for Manami-chan! (Adoration) And also for kate, who came up with her kinda!_


	5. Technicality

_Hello. XD_

Chapter Five-Technicalities

* * *

_5AK  
_* * *

"I don't like it." hissed Danzou.  
"You don't like anything." replied Sarutobi.  
"You could start the next shinobi war." replied the ROOT founder.  
"Like that would upset you." replied the Sandaime, pulling on his pipe. "This kind of mission is attempted all the time-by the other villages. After all, a few years back Kumogakure tried to get hold of a Hyuuga."  
"And they did, second try." retorted the council member angrily.  
"So, taking one of Their Kekkei Genkai in return would be just fair, no?" smirked the Hokage.  
Danzou growled.  
"We're not ready for this kind of risk."  
"No-one ever is. We're soft." said Sarutobi. "Just occasionally, let's be long, sharp, hard, and dangerous. We're getting some Kekkei Genkai."  
"Next you're going to say they're going with that ridiculous Wolf team."  
"Oh, good idea."

* * *

_12AK  
_* * *

"Where are we going?" asked a girl, curiously, bounding along. Her hair was brown, long, framing her head and going down her back. Her eyes were brown tool, dancing happily in the half light.

"We're on a mission." replied another girl, irritated. "I _told _you once."  
This girl had bright red hair, curly and shoulder length. Her eyes flashed with anger, as they dashed through the trees.

Both wore loose black robes, done up at the waist. The first girl wore a leaf headband around her forehead, the second had it engraved on the weapon she wore on her back.

"What mission?" asked the first girl.  
"I told you already, Hanma." growled the second. "We're stopping a group of rogue ninja."  
"Whyyyy?"  
"Because we got orders to."  
"Whyyyy?"  
"Shut it, Hanma."  
"Awww…. comeon, Kama! Come ooooon!"

Kakiri Kama scowled at Kusari Hanma.  
"We do as we're ordered. Nothing more to it. Understand?"  
"Aww… Kamaaa!"

Despite the bickering, the two were close friends. The dangerous, unhinged, loyal sword-user and the hyperactive, insane Kunoichi. It was, admittedly, an odd combination-not to mention the other girl about to arrive.

"Hey Kama, Hanma. I checked the area, there's nothing except a small camp over there!" said the blonde-haired Waza Manami.  
"Ohmygod it's Manami!" exclaimed Hanma, as if seeing a long lost friend.  
"Shut it Hanma." said Kama, eyes glinting. "Which way is the camp? How many where there?"  
"It's that way." said the young girl-only nine, compared to the two twelve year olds, pointing. "There were two of them."

"Two. What did they look like?" asked Kama.  
"Blue hair, both with hidden mist headbands-scratched out." said Manami.  
"Perfect." said Kama, grinning, pointed teeth glinting. "Let's go."

The three darted away. No-one watching would know that this was their first mission together, working as if they had always done so. But Manami had only even been in Konoha for a year or so, and Kama had joined only a few months ago.

Yet when they burst through the trees and into a secluded, seaside cove, they attacked like a group who had fought together for decades.

"Kirigakure no Jutsu!" screamed Kama, drawing the weapon from her back with both hands.

It had a long, sword like blade at one end, then a large haft. The haft was attached to an oversized, double headed axe, engraved on one side with a leaf symbol, and on the other side with the four wavy lines of Mist-with a scratch through the middle.  
Its edges seemed to writhe and ripple, as id blocked from view by hot air.

Kama's technique blocked the sight of everyone in the cove-but Hanma and Manami knew how to deal with it.

The two missing-nin they were attacking broke and ran after Kama's first swing cut the first man's arm off.

They went in different directions, having left their village together and knowing instinctively where they would meet up.

The first, now one armed, met a certain blonde, hyperactive nine year old.  
"Do you have any chocolate?" she asked, tilting her head.

"What the hell?" asked the ninja.  
"Oh well…" she said, sadly, pulling out her hand from her pouch. "I'll have some when I get home…"

The ninja's eyes widened as he noticed a small spider on his chest. He brushed it away, petrified with fear as he noticed the large, fanged mouth on the girl's palm.

She grinned, and he looked down, something at the edge of his vision moving..

The ground was carpeted with clay insects.  
They surged up his body.

"Katsu!"

* * *

"Hai nice to meet you I'm Kusari Hanma!" said the brown haired girl.  
"What are you, six?" asked the other ninja.  
"Waaaah!" she complained, fake tears streaming down her face. "You're mean… I'm gonna kill you now."

He smirked. No way could this pathetic asylum escapee hurt him.

"Rensaton: Kusari Hanma!" she proclaimed, holding her hands out to her sides.

A chain, seemingly made of white-gold light, extended out of each of her hands. They curled around her body, before suddenly attaching to long poles, and then headed with hammer heads.

She pirouetted, waving her hands, and the hammers wove a deadly net around her.  
She giggled, and charged at him.

One of the hammers scythed for his head, and he blocked with a kunai.  
The kunai snapped, but not before a current of lightning ran into his body, making him wince with pain and drop the remains of his weapon.

He moved his hands to block the other hammer, but it struck him in the chest before he could.  
Electricity fried his nervous system an instant before every bone in his torso broke.

* * *

"I got one!" said Hanma excitedly. "Dididogoodcomeonhowdidido?" she asked.  
"I got one as well." said Manami, cheerfully.  
"You both got one and I didn't get to kill one of the bastards?" hissed Kama. "I'm going to _kill_ someone."

Without another word, she turned and left for Konoha.

The other two less unhinged, or so some would argue, ran after her.

* * *

"Wolves." said Sarutobi, walking through the front entrance to the Wolves House, the building granted to the team since their formation, over seven years ago-though their numbers had increased since then. First, just a year after their formation, the successful kidnapping of a young girl from Kumogakure. A suspicious ease in this operation was explained when the girl seemed to stay at the mental age of seven.

Then, a year ago, Kiba, Hinata and Neji managed to acquire a rare user of the clay moulding bloodline, from Iwagakure. The girl had adapted well-partly due to the looser discipline, partly to the availability of sugary snacks and partly due to her being allowed to help with demolition squads working on old buildings.

Kakiri Kama had joined only a month ago-and had only completed one mission, a B-rank. She had been recruited by the team of Sasuke, Naruto and Ino. The three had been searching the land of Water, notorious for its distrust of Kekkei Genkai. They had struck gold with this girl. She was a skilled user of water techniques, passable with fire techniques and capable with the fusion element of Boil. Her true strength lay in her odd weapon, an axe with a sword blade on the bottom. Though her sharp teeth and bloodthirsty nature scared many, her loyalty to the village was absolute-as was her dedication to her saviours, Naruto, Sasuke and Ino.

"You may already know that the chunin exams are coming up." began the Sandaime.  
"We're already chunin." pointed out Neji calmly.  
"Yes." agreed the Hokage. "But. According to international treaty, you can't be unless you pass the chunin exams."  
"So we have to do them?" scowled Sasuke.  
"Yes. Work together as much as you can." smiled the Hokage. "And try not to kill anyone."

* * *

Kirigakure no Jutsu-Hidden Mist Technique  
Rensaton: Kusari Hanma-Chain Hammers

_No more OCs. Promise. If I can avoid it. (Sweatdrop)  
Hanma is based on the character Eddie from Emergency Exit. Trust me, the character is awesome, insane, and so much win, as is the comic. My Hearty Recommendations._


	6. Examination

_That OC thing? I never said anything. (Innocent whistle)  
Kinda fillery…_

Disclaimer-Still don't own Naruto.

Chapter Six-Examination

The first stage was presided over by one Morino Ibiki-and it was easy. Neji and Sasuke worked out the meaning of the test like lightning, Hinata close behind them, and they used their dojutsu to pass. Shikamaru was intelligent enough that, with a troublesome expenditure of memory, he remembered the answers.

The others were given the answers by some slight glinting reflecting into their eyes-Tenten's work.  
By the time the tenth question arrived, they were all utterly confused, including Naruto, who had initially been worried by the difficult questions.

Some of the other teams quit. Only about thirty-five left when Naruto lost his patience-still a huge number.  
"Get on with it already!" said Naruto. "None of us are gonna quit."

Ibiki scowled. A show of confidence like that… no way were any more of them going to be quitting.  
"Very well… you all pass."

There was a moment of silence.

And then an eruption of noise-which was cut short by the sound of hooves.  
Another moment of silence. Hooves?

_Hooves?_

The window shattered, a horse leaping through and destroying the glass. Dropping from the creature's back was a woman, with wavy hair down to her shoulders and cold blue eyes. She wore a billowing cloak over a loose skirt and flak jacket, which seemed to cover a skintight black suit much like those worn by Guy and Lee.  
"Yo!" she proclaimed. "My name is Tenshi Sayna, and I'll be your proctor for the second part of the exams, and… why are there so many of you?" she asked, looking closely at the number of remaining students, more than a hundred.

"Sayna-san…" groaned Ibiki. "I wasn't finished…"  
"You're finished now." she said brightly. "Besides. I need you all to meet up at the Forest of Death tomorrow morning, 9AM sharp for the second stage of the test!"  
"Nine AM?" said Tenten to herself. "That's late."  
"What's that, gorgeous?" asked Sayna, suddenly behind her. "I like to sleep in. Your point?"  
"Ummm…" said Tenten, impressed and slightly scared. "No reason."  
"Good! I will cut your numbers down by at least half." she grinned wickedly. "Anyway. Tomorrow, pretties~" she said, leaping onto the horse, and leaving at an incredible speed.

"Who… the hell was that?" asked Kiba.  
"Tenshi Sayna. One of the three students of the Heaven Sage." said Ibiki. "They returned only a few days back, and most of the jonin were bias due to a particular organisation, so they picked them."

Naruto whistled innocently at the 'particular organisation' comment.  
"Anyway." said Ibiki. "You're dismissed. Good luck for tomorrow, everyone. Especially you lot, Wolves."

"Damnit Ibiki!" said one of the jonin. "You said you wouldn't be bias!"  
"You trust the interrogation leader?"

* * *

"We're back." announced Naruto, opening the door to the Wolf House, the other's following him-after a large celebratory meal at Ichiraku's.

There was a cry, a chorus of eleven voices.

"How did you do?!?"

"We all passed." said Shikamaru, the only one level headed enough to answer through the surprise of the welcome crowd.

Nara Daiki, Uchiha Yuuta, Hyuuga Hizashi, Inuzuka Tsume, Seiha Shiori, Maito Gai and Yamanaka Inoichi, teaching family skills to the group. Anko, teaching what amounted to how to creep people out. Hayate, who had given Lee and Tenten, plus to a limited extent Hanma and Kame, Kenjutsu instruction. And Kurenai, trying her best to teach Genjutsu to a group including only two suited to it, only one of which was interested.

And Umino Iruka, the official team leader, whose skills had increased exponentially, learning as much from the others as he helped teach.

"Hellyeah!" shouted Anko.

"Good (cough) work." said Hayate.  
"I knew you could do it." smiled Kurenai.

"Break out the sake." said Yuuta-who had formed a bit of a habit since the massacre-and discovered a propensity to the drunken fist that had him surrounded by jonin when he went near alcohol.

"Nuh-uh." said Iruka. "You need to be training for tomorrow."

"Whaaaaat?" said everyone else in horror.  
"Kidding." he said. "But you can get up early to train."  
"Done and done!" they chorused.

* * *

_Yeahplotsnore. XP  
Who can guess anything about this heaven sage? XP_


	7. The Forest of Death

_And now for epicness, I sincerely hope._

Chapter Seven-Forest of Death

"Konoha, Team S1, entrance four. Konoha, Team S2, entrance eight…"

The wolves were split into standard teams of three for this, not that they intended on staying it. They'd prepared a code while training that morning-a coloured flare indicating the discovery of a safe location.  
Of course, this would likely show the enemy where they were-but they were confident they could take anyone in this exam.

Of course, this assumption wasn't quite correct. Yes, they were high-chunin level. But some, almost all of the competitors, had been waiting a while for the exam, long enough to reach high chunin themselves.

This was not going to be a pushover. Especially when the beacon drew each group into separate fights.

* * *

"Rensaton: Kusari Daiga." said a girl, brown haired. "This is unforgiveable."  
Behind her, a boy unsheathed a long katana, a crackle of lightning covering its length, and another, younger girl, black haired with strange, pale eyes placed her hands together, the sky above them darkening, clouds forming.

The brown haired girl's hands opened out, golden-white chains forming from them, ending in golden blades, hiltless, attached directly to the energy chains.

"Ooh!" said Kusari Hanma. "That looks like my move!"  
"Oh, crap…" muttered Tenten, realising the issue. This was way more than a normal encounter.  
"Troublesome…"

The teams had been shuffled slightly for the exams, to check the capabilities of the Wolves in non-standard groups.

Kuroumaru, Baramaru and Zenmi, the nin-dogs, gathered protectively near Hanma, knowing what the problem was as well. Zenmi, in contrast to her companion Hanma, was one of the smartest ninken in the village. Tsume claimed that she could give Shikamaru a run for his money.

"My name is Kusari Daiga, second child of the Kusari clan." said the brown haired girl, eyes narrowing. "You have my sister."  
"We do?" said Hanma. "Maybe we can get her to meet you! It'd be a nice reunion!"  
"Just because our children are sometimes… unhinged doesn't make them fair game." hissed the cloud genin. "I don't care about this exam. She is coming home with me."  
"Me? I am home." said Hanma, confused. "Tennie-chaaaaan, I'm confuuuused…"

The saner girl groaned, as Shikamaru stared despairingly at the darkening clouds.

* * *

"You cannot hope to fight on an even keel with us." said Neji calmly. His opponents, three Rain ninja, merely laughed.  
"I believe they are not going to listen to your remonstrance. We must fight with the full power of youth." said Lee sadly.  
"You don't need to do anything." hissed Kakiri Kama. "I can deal with these three without even trying."

"What? You're gonna pay for that." growled the leader of the enemy genin, a scarred ninja with multiple weapons upon his back. He drew one of them then, an umbrella.

Kama would have laughed, but they all knew too well what one of these innocuous items could do in the hands of a rain-nin.

The lead rain ninja tossed the umbrella high, crying out.

"Joro Senbon!"  
"Hakke Rokujyon Sho." replied Neji calmly, settling into a different stance as needles exploded from the spinning umbrella. As Haiiromi and Midorimi the ninken hid under his feet, Lee drew the Raijin no Ken. Kama'a approach was less subtle. Swinging the axe-sword from her back, she cried out in fury and charge for the three rain-nin.

An immense amount of senbon tore through the air. Neji's devastating attack blocked the largest proportion of those aiming for him, though some did get through. Lee did impressively, but was nonetheless quite heavily injured. Kama on the other hand had been lucky. Her bloodthirsty charge had carried her into the eye of the storm-she was barely cut, and seemed to be moments away from killing one of the rain-nin, who was desperately fighting back with a pair of overlong senbon.

Neji and Lee charged too, wincing slightly in pain, their ninken jumping to their shoulders as they got close.

"Konbi no Jutsu! Raitama!"  
Midorimi leapt forwards, bouncing from the blade of the Raijin no Ken-an aura of lightning surrounding her. The electrified ninken collided with a Rain-nin, knocking them over with a smoking wound.  
Seconds later, Lee's sword was at their neck.

"Tsuchi Bunshin." commanded Neji with a handsign, and the mud rose up into a clone, running alongside him. The second terrified rain-nin began to throw senbon, but was, in moments, unconscious on the floor from Jyuken strikes.

Haiiromi sat on the rain-nin's face. Just because she could.

Kama was attacking the lead ninja, not giving him a moments peace, her spiralling weapon making deadly cuts that her opponent was only just ahead of. Until the senbon he was using to block snapped, and the axeblade slashed across his chest.

She saw the opening, and rather than trying to bring the weapon round, kicked him in the chest, right across the cut, and knocked him into a tree.  
A mere second later, she was standing over him, the odd axe-sword poised to kill him in at least two ways.  
"Scroll, please." she said.

* * *

"Where are we, anyway?" complained Naruto. "It feels like we've been walking for hours."  
"The forest." replied Sasuke. "Baka."  
"Real mature." said Naruto sarcastically. "Teme."  
"Both of you shut up." said Ino, rolling her eyes. "We're headed for the flare, like we said earlier."

"There's a flare?" came another voice.  
The three turned like lightning as their dogs gave a yelp of shock. Three Rock-nin were rising slowly up from the earth, an immense man with short black hair, and dark eyes, a small, lithe female with a disturbing grin, and another male, rather small, but with a look of knowledge in his eyes.

The wolves immediately realised something was fishy. They were older than almost all of the others.  
It was only moments later, when the rock-nin stood on solid ground, that their suspicions were confirmed.

"We found you. Foxglove." said the smaller man, looking at Ino with a grin.

"What about us?" complained Naruto.

"Foxglove and associates." he said dismissively. "Zetsudai, take the loud blonde one. Ikei, the dark one. The assassin girl is mine."

* * *

Hinata gulped. The three ninja opposing them looked strong. One was big, with purple lines on his face and something big on his back. The girl was blonde haired, wearing what seemed to be a fan. The third, a small boy standing forwards, was red haired, with a gourd on his back.

He felt wrong.  
Both Akamaru and Aoimaru were hiding behind their respective partners-and they knew that this meant bad things.

Manami meanwhile was furiously chewing on clay, trying to prepare an attack-but not fast enough.  
"To prove my existence… I will end yours."

The words were quiet, but they echoed with power.  
A popping noise, as the lid was fired from the gourd upon the boy's back.

Sand floated out, pouring into the air, hovering, and then flying towards the team.

"Split!" shouted Kiba.

They headed in three different directions, Kiba leaping for a tree, Manami tossing a small clay creature-caught and destroyed by floating sand with ease before Manami turned to flee, and Hinata running off to the left.

Hinata was the unlucky one. The sand followed her, spiralling into the air and wrapping around her foot.

"Sabaku Kyu!"

The sand dragged her down, encasing her within moments inside an impenetrable shell of sand.  
"Sabaku Soso."

Kiba screamed, having turned to help just in time to see the sand implode.

* * *

Rensaton: Kusari Daiga-Chain Release: Chain Blades  
Joro Senbon-Senbon Shower  
Hakke Rokujyon Sho-Eight Trigrams: Sixty Four Palms  
Konbi no Jutsu: Raitama-Combination Technique: Lightning Bullet  
Tsuchi Bunshin-Earth Clone  
Sabaku Kyu-Sand Waterfall Coffin  
Sabaku Soso-Sand Waterfall Funeral

* * *

_Yes. I did._


	8. Showdown

_I'm back.  
Do you __**know**__ how annoying it is making characters for the chunin exams? I mean, dozens of one-off characters. Argh. THAT is why I always end up with so many characters… plus low willpower. So Yeah._

Chapter Eight-Showdown

"You've made two very, very stupid mistakes." said the furious girl. "The first was taking my sister. The second was letting me keep talking for long enough for Hanabi to charge her attack."  
"Raiton: Denkou Tentai!" said the black haired girl, Hanabi.  
A chain of electrical chakra reached up from the young girl, disappearing into the clouds with a rumble of thunder.

"…was that it?" asked Tenten.

The brown haired girl ignored her, turning to Hanma.  
"Hanma, I mean you. You're my lost sister."  
"Don't be silly, you're from Cloud and I'm from Konoha!" replied Hanma, laughing. "How would that work.?"

Kusari Daiga scowled. "Then I'll kill them and take you back home myself. Hanabi, attack!"

Hanma's eyes widened, and she formed her chain hammers on reflex.  
"You can't hurt them!" she commanded.

Hanabi closed her eyes in effort. And a bolt of lightning speared down from the sky-towards Tenten and Shikamaru.  
"No!" shouted Hanma, leaping forwards. Her chain-hammers crossed in the path of the lightning.

An explosion sounded, blinding them all for a good minute.

Hanma lay unconscious on the ground, slightly singed but alive.  
"You're going to regret it if she's hurt." growled Tenten.  
"Not half as much as you will." said Daiga, her eyes smouldering. "Hanabi, Seichi, attack the boy!"

Shikamaru drew a kunai, reasoning that the girl attacking him-she couldn't be more than eight!-wouldn't be that hard to defeat.  
"Byakugan!"  
"_Troublesome… _Kagemane no Jutsu!"

The girl skidded to a halt, before flipping backwards, jumping from a tree, and generally dashing around to avoid the shadow.  
"_She must be a Hyuuga…_" reasoned Shikamaru to himself. "_Why is nothing ever simple?_"

The boy on the other hand, Seichi, was viciously swinging an electrically charged sword around-as three ninken transformed into their respective partners, and performed a triple Tsuuga upon him. A flash of his blade arced into one, dispelling the transformation and sending the injured form of Kuroimaru sprawling to the floor.

The other two dogs caught him from both directions, drawing blood, tearing clothes and knocking him completely out of the battle.

Tenten was having trouble fighting the vengeful Daiga. She knew from experience with Hanma that she couldn't block-the power of the attack would shatter anything she used. If it hit her, she'd be severely injured, if not killed.

Her only real choice was to dodge every attack made by the mesmerizing blades, as they swung, back and forth, an endless dance, hypnotically in front of her.

Tenten's eyelids began to droop. Then they shut.

One of the blades lashed for her.

Daiga was thrown off balance, crying out, her weapons dissipating as Baramaru slammed into her side with another Tsuuga. Zenmi had attacked Hanabi, only to be struck in the chest with a jyuken strike.

But it gave Shikamaru the opening.

"Kagemane… success." he panted

Baramaru barked loudly, and Tenten reached through a heavy, misty haze, and opened her eyes. As soon as she did, the genjutsu failed and Tenten woke properly.

She put a kunai to the furious Daiga's throat.

"Now." said Tenten. "Explain to me how you can be such a self righteous bitch about your sister, and have a Hyuuga on your team."  
"What?!"

* * *

"Where the _hell_ are they?!" complained Kama, lounging about under the flare.  
"Kekeke… you have bigger problems."

* * *

"Taijuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" shouted Naruto, forming the familiar handsign.  
Almost a hundred clones appeared,  
"Kaen Bunshin no Jutsu."  
"Hana Bunshin no Jutsu."

"Clones, clones, clones." mocked their opponent. "Chakra Furea." he said, eyes narrowing as he went through a short set of handsigns.

A pulse of chakra spread from him. It felt like a tiny tingle, a slight queasy feeling that passed in moments.

Every single clone vanished.

The three rock ninja charged, Naruto sweeping viciously for his opponent's legs.  
The immense rock-nin didn't even shake. Naruto kicked and punched, but nothing had any effect.  
His enemy grabbed him by the arm justg as Naruto had the bright idea of trying jyuken, and threw him into the path of the girl, Ikei, before he could.

She then proceeded to punch him with all the power her four foot frame could manage. Somehow, this sent him flying through a tree.

Ikei then continued on to Sasuke, who appeared to be standing in a simple, serene stance. Inside he was, for the first time in a long while, terrified.

"_If you face someone who is weaker than you, defeat them quickly and simply. If you face someone who is your match in every way, you must simply grow stronger. If you face someone who surpasses you, use their own talents against them."_

The words of the Wolves' taijutsu coach came quickly to him. They didn't much help.  
The girl leapt, punching for him. He jumped too, sideways. The ground cratered, shattering from the impact.

Sasuke studied it intently. This would be a useful technique to remember… assuming he survived.  
He activated his Sharingan.

He then continued to dodge backwards, not willing to get into range. Finally, the girl got bored.  
"Fine." she scowled. "I'll help Houfo."  
Their leader, Houfo, had been blasting lightning at Ino for their entire game of cat and mouse.  
"Raikou!" hew barked, a javelin of lightning appearing in his hand before he threw it, coalescing into a bolt that vanished into the distance.  
Ino had dodged, again. She hadn't managed an attack yet-her main skill was with clones.

She was completely surprised when Ikei grabbed her from behind, and punched her in the stomach.  
Sasuke cried out. He heard something breaking.

Ino winced, as blood dripped slightly. She whispered something.  
"What was that, little girl?" teased Ikei, holding her up.  
"Flowers." she repeated. A circle tattooed onto shoulder flashed briefly.  
Ino exploded into a cloud of petals, then each one detonated with a flash.

Ikei had her eyes tightly shut, trying to get out. She walked right into something.  
"Hn." said Sasuke. He punched her in exactly the way she had to Ino. This time, he knew he heard something break. "A nice technique. If Ino doesn't heal, I may strike somewhere more vital."

He dropped her, and went looking for Naruto.  
When he found him, Ino was there.  
"You used the seal." noted Sasuke.  
"Yep. Swapped myself with a flower clone. Did you get her?" asked Ino.  
Sasuke nodded. "She won't hurt you again."

There was an awkward silence, in which Naruto awoke.  
"Uhh…. did we win?"

* * *

"_**Hinata!**_" shouted Kiba in terror. Manami turned from where she had run, and added her own scream.  
"You're next." said Gaara levelly. Kiba growled.

"Gatsuuga." he said simply.  
He and Akamaru flew through the air towards the sand-nin, tearing into the sand that flew up, burrowing through, but unable to penetrate.

"Byakugan!"  
Gaara stiffened, and spat up blood.  
A jyuken blow to the back while the sand was distracted.  
Hinata dashed away as Kiba finally accepted the Gatsuuga wasn't going to penetrate, and deflected back.

"H…Hinata?" he asked, afraid it wasn't.  
She nodded. He hugged her. She blushed. She hugged back.

"Why aren't we running from the homicidal sand ninja?" asked Manami, her hands furiously chewing on clay.  
She managed to finish, forming the clay into a bird-large enough for them to ride. She leapt onto its back, and Hinata and Kiba followed quickly.

Gaara watched them fly away.  
"There must be someone around to kill…" he murmured, turning, and walking between Temari and Kankuro. "There's always one of you."

* * *

"We're here. With a scroll too. And… we've kind of acquired three cloud ninja." said Tenten, followed by Shikamaru, as well as the cloud nin, including Daiga, who was carrying her sister.  
"We're here too." said Naruto. He grinned. "How do you acquire cloud-nin?"  
"Long story…" muttered Daiga.  
"Heya everyone!" said Manami, as the bird landed with a slight tremor.  
"…" said Hinata.

Everyone stared at her.  
"Why are Kame, Lee and Neji unconscious in the bushes?" she asked.  
"Kekeke… that would be me." said a pale, black haired figure, walking into the open. "There are some very interesting abilities around. Important to keep an eye on. After all, I need to plan for my next host."

* * *

_Wowhardwork. Also, I am gonna have to remember MULTIPLE PLOT THREADS. Help me._

* * *

For the record, I do use an online dictionary, and some words aren't there. I use the closest words I can get to the meaning I want.  
Raiton: Denkou Tentai-Lightning Release: Lightning God  
Byakugan-All Seeing White Eye  
Kagemane no Jutsu-Shadow Imitation Technique  
Tsuuga-Piercing Fang  
Omoiseichuu Daiga-Hypnotic Blades (Unnamed Genjutsu used by Kusari Daiga)  
Taijuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu-Multiple Shadow Clone Technique  
Kaen Bunshin no Jutsu-Blaze Clone Technique  
Hana Bunshin no Jutsu-Flower Clone Technique  
Chakra Furea-Chakra Flare  
Bakuyakuken-Explosive Fist (Fighting style used by the rock-nin Ikei)  
Fuinjutsu: Bakuyaku Hana Bunshin-Sealing Technique: Explosive Flower Clone (Ino's seal, with code word of flowers. (of course, she had to apply chakra too. Otherwise it'd go off whenever she said flowers… what a party trick!))  
Jyuken-Gentle Fist


	9. The Soul Stealer

_Alright… time for the showdown. O_o_

Chapter Nine-The Soul Stealer

All eight conscious wolves entered a combat stance. With a flash of chakra, their ninken followed.

Three very confused cloud-nin exchanged a glance.  
"Dai-chan…" murmured the boy to Kusari Daiga. "Should we not take your sister and run?"  
She shook her head.  
"I have questions I need answers for." she replied. "And anyway… they won."

Sixteen faces stared at the strange ninja in the clearing.  
"There's too many of us." said Shikamaru.  
"You don't stand a chance." said Sasuke.  
"So if you'll just give up now, and save us a load of time, we have an exam to finish." grinned Naruto.

"You have no idea who I am, do you?" he laughed. "My name is Orochimaru."

As one, the wolves flinched backwards.  
And then Naruto spoke up.  
"For Konoha…" he said.  
"For honour." growled Kiba.

Every last one of them formed a handsign.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"  
"Daiga Bunshin no Jutsu!"  
"Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!"  
"Tsuchi Bunshin no Jutsu!"  
"Kaen Bunshin no Jutsu!"  
"Hana Bunshin no Jutsu!"  
"Nendo Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Orochimaru blinked, and then let out a low laugh.  
"Such a high level technique for such young ninja." he said, amused. "Any one of you would do fine.

"Now!" shouted Shikamaru, throwing a glance to Manami.  
"Kagemane no Jutsu!" shouted Manami, forming the distinctive handsign. Her shadow stretched out, snapping into that of the Sannin.  
"Success!" she shouted.

Orochimaru blinked. This was odd.

"Taijuutsuuga!" shouted Kiba.

Seventeen different groups of ninja formed the spiralling taijutsu attack.

Manami screamed. Chakra backlashed through the kagemane, and she crumpled, before melting into formless clay-a clone.

In the seconds before the ninja struck, he formed handsigns.  
"Futon: Daitoppa!" he commanded, opening his mouth and spinning, exhaling an immense blast of wind, blowing the entire group away, destroying every clone and knocking out every last ninken with the power of the attack.

Something exploded next to him, and he stared up in shock.  
"If we can't do this together, we'll take you out one by one!" shouted down Manami.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu." he replied, biting his thumb, and forming the seals, slamming his hand to the ground.

Smoke rose up, and Manami, upon the clay bird that had bought her there, stopped for a moment, hovering outside it.

A giant snake lashed out, and bit the bird in two. Manami fell backwards, landing on the forest floor with a loud thump. She didn't stand back up.

As this had been going on, a clone of Orochimaru had come up from behind, knocking the three Kumo-nin unconscious with basic taijutsu. He then approached Shikamaru, recognising him as the leader and performing the Sen'eijashu.  
Snakes bit into his shoulder before he even moved, and Orochimaru's clone moved on, only to be confronted by Naruto, Sasuke and Ino, as Hinata, as the only member with more than basic medical knowledge, moved to find an antidote.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" commanded Nareuto, forming a large group of clones. They rushed for Orochimaru, grabbing him and holding him still-as Sasuke, eyes flaring red with the Sharingan, tied him up with wire.  
"Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu!" he shouted.  
The clones vanished, save one-who was revealed as a disguised flower clone if Ino's when she activated the Kahenkumo Daibakuha.

The petals detonated at the same time as the flame blast struck. Mud from the clone splattered the area.

The real Orochimaru's eyes lit up with interest, and he opened his mouth wide, drawing the Kusanagi sword. With a few short slashes, Tenten and Kiba, the two taijutsu users, were down and out, bleeding copiously. Hinata dashed to heal them, and only managed to join them.  
These injuries were likely to damage their skills badly, if they couldn't be treated, and soon.

"This isn't over." said Ino.  
"We're the best of the team!" said Naruto.  
"Don't be overconfident. Baka." muttered Sasuke. "This guy is strong."  
"So am I." grinned Ino.

Orochimaru nodded slightly. He heard every word.

He stared at Ino.  
The assassination expert blanched. She was no slouch in the killer intent herself, when she wanted it-but that was nothing. She shook slightly, the entire force of the Sannin's personality crushing down on her mind. She fainted.

"…dammit." growled Naruto. "This isn't over!" he shouted.  
"I disagree." said Orochimaru, leaping for him.

The Kusanagi made another slash, across the boy's chest.  
Blood sprayed out. And Naruto collapsed.

"Just you and me… Uchiha…" he said softly, turning towards Sasuke.  
"You're good at kenjutsu." said Sasuke. "And taijutsu. How are you on ninjutsu? Raiton: Raigen!"

Two hand seals and a ball of lightning was flying for Orochimaru. He merely smirked, turning to mud as it struck-another clone.

Something struck Sasuke on the back of the head, sending him sprawling.  
And then something struck that something in the back, sending Orochimaru head over heels.

Naruto, eyes blazing red, a fiery aura of chakra around him, tore the ground as he charged for the Sannin.

"Sen'ei Tajashu!" cried Orochimaru in fear.  
A crowd of snakes leapt for the jinchuriki. Each one bit deep into him, one after the other, dying after moments in contact with the red-hot chakra.

The chakra began to fade.  
"Not that easily." muttered Orochimaru. "It'll take every bit of chakra you have to stop that poison, fox."

Sasuke was still on the ground, confused beyond all belief.  
Orochimaru turned to him, and his neck stretched.

A jabbing pain on Sasuke's shoulder, as Orochimaru bit down upon it.  
Moments later, everything went dark.

* * *

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu-Shadow Clone Technique  
Daiga Bunshin-Blade Clone  
Mizu Bunshin-Mist Clone  
Tsuchi Bunshin-Earth Clone  
Kaen Bunshin-Blaze Clone  
Hana Bunshin-Flower Clone  
Nendo Bunshin-Clay Clone  
Kagemane no Jutsu-Shadow Imitation Technique  
Taiuutsuuga-Mass Piercing Fang  
Futon: Daitoppa-Great Breakthrough  
Kuchiyose no Jutsu-Summoning Technique  
Sen'eijashu-Hidden Shadow Snake Hands  
Sen'ei Tajashu-Many Hidden Shadow Snake Hands  
Raiton: Raigen-Lighting Release: Lightning Sphere


	10. Preparation

_Hope SOMEONE's still there. ;P_

Chapter Ten-Preparations

_Plip.  
Plip.  
Plip._

"_**Wake up, kit.**__" said a rumbling voice. Naruto shook himself as he came too, seeing a large room, a sewer. One side was blocked off by immense bars-and red eyes glowed beyond it.  
"Kyuubi." said Naruto in shock. Until then, he'd never been sure about the revelation given to him by the sandaime, but it seemed pretty guaranteed now.  
"__**You have no idea how bored I've been for the last twelve years.**__" complained the bijuu. "__**You get enough power that only a jonin is gonna bring me out, and then don't get into any strong enough battles. Then, when you finally do, you match yourself with one of the Densetsu no Sannin. Do you not know how annoying it is to filter poison?**__"  
"Um…"  
"__**Of course you don't. Stupid little boy...**__"  
"Wait, what have I done? I'm not the one who invaded the village."  
"__**And when I find out who was behind that, someone's going to pay. And by pay, I mean die in a slow and fiery agony.**__"  
"…uh."  
"__**What is it?**__"  
"You didn't want to invade?"  
"__**Of course not. If I was going to invade a damned village it'd be a small one like takigakure where I wouldn't get sealed into some smart ass kid who goes and trains to the point of almost boring me to death, and then picks a fight where we're almost **_**killed**_** to death.**__"  
"Hey, wait a second-"  
"__**If I have to work with you, you're going to give me some fun now and again, you understand? Pick a fight with someone **_**tough**_**, and then draw out some youki chakra and show me a good time.**__"  
"I don't trust you."  
"__**Why not?**__"  
"You're a demon fox."  
"__**A sensible point. But I mean it. I'll even promise not to take control and kill all your friends.**__"  
"…thank you?"  
"__**Damn right. Now go away and let me sleep 'til something interesting happens.**__"_

Naruto opened his eyes slowly.  
He seemed to still be in the forest.  
He looked around. The entirety of the Sequoia Wolves were there, unconscious, or sleeping. He couldn't tell which.

"You're awake." said a voice from behind him.  
He whirled around. There were the three kumo-nin, 'befriended' by Tenten and Shikamaru.  
"You're still here?" asked a confused Naruto.  
"I already lost. There's no honour in running now." said the Kumo-nin.  
She stole a glance to the sleeping Hanma, and then sideways to her teammate, Hanabi.  
"Besides. I have a lot of questions." she added quietly.

There was an awkward silence.  
"What are your names?" said Naruto, suddenly.  
"Kirino Seichi." said the boy.  
"Kumoma Hanabi." said the young girl, and Naruto blinked. She was clearly a Hyuuga.  
"Kusari Daiga." said the other girl, and Naruto realised what the problem was.

"Oh." he said lamely. "Oh…"  
There was nothing he could say.  
Daiga nodded slowly.  
"Exactly."

A long silence, as Naruto sat up, looking around. They were camped underneath a large overhang, rain pouring down just metres away.  
He winced at the movement, a mass of sore spots, leftovers from the many bites he suffered, covering him with a lash of pain.  
"How long have I been asleep?" he asked.  
"Almost a day." replied Daiga shortly.

Another silence.

"Why do you have my sister?" asked Daiga, suddenly.

Naruto was caught off-guard.

"Uh. Well… stealing Kekkei Genkai is pretty common, and…" he started, trailing off at her smouldering expression.  
"My sister is more than a bloodline." she said, stonily.

Naruto gulped.  
"I know…she's a good friend. A little strange, but…"  
There was a moment when he had no clue how she'd respond to that, but she smiled slightly.

"Yeah. She is." agreed Daiga. "Part of our heritage. Sometimes, a child is born who all but stops growing up. When they get to seven or so, that's pretty much it. Hormones kick in eventually and all, but other than that… but she's still my sister."

Naruto nodded slightly.

"She's like a sister to me too." he said simply. "They all are. That's what makes us strong."

Quiet again, as the two thought. The only noise was breathing, and the sound of falling rain.

"I didn't know where Hanabi came from…" said Daiga. "I… didn't think of it. She must be a Hyuuga, it makes sense, but… I thought our village was better than that."  
"I think she was taken first." said Naruto. "Our retaliation left us angry, but square, so they say. That's why we have peace, and we work together, sometimes. It's how we can be here talking, and how you can still see your sister, if not as often as is right."

No reply for a moment.

"The rest of your team should be waking soon." she announced suddenly, standing up. "..except him. We don't know what's up with him." she added, pointing at Sasuke.  
"You don't know?"  
"Well, none of us are medical experts, but I do know a bit… and that's nothing like anything I've ever seen…"

"Do we attack?"  
"No. They'd wake up partway through, and we'd be heavily outnumbered. We'll get our chance in the next stage."

"Is anyone there?" came a voice from outside their perimeter.  
Within bare moments, they were all armed and ready, most of the team having woken some time earlier, but it was an older, white haired boy appeared, hands held flat upwards in a sign of friendship.  
"I'm not here to hurt you. But, I'm a medic-nin and I noticed you have someone down with something weird. Leaf ninja have to stick together, right? I'm Kabuto."

Shikamaru gave a half nod, followed by Ino. With their confirmation that he seemed to be sincere, they dropped their guard.  
"He's in here." said Ino quietly, pointing to where Sasuke slept uneasily. Kabuto nodded, and went over to him.

The moon was just rising when Sasuke finally awoke.

There was a huge surge of unpleasant chakra.  
Ino shivered. Finely tuned senses only bought pain in cases like this.

"Sasuke?" asked Naruto, cautiously.

Red eyes snapped open, orange-red markings spreading over his face.  
"Sasuke!" he shouted. "What's up with you?"

Naruto and Ino were walking slowly closer, Kabuto and the kumo-nin backing away in fear-the rest of the Wolves unsure what to do.

Sasuke looked at them in confusion, eyes narrowing as he saw Kabuto, the only one he didn't recognise.  
What were they doing? He was _fine._ Why weren't they fighting him? That was what mattered. He should attack that guy, now.

He drew a kunai, licking it, drawing blood from his tongue, not caring.

Naruto gave a helpless shrug to Ino.

Ino cast around for something she could do.  
She embraced him.  
"Sasuke-kun… please calm down." she murmured.

No change for a moment.  
And then the chakra started to fade.

"You'd think a group of… what, 16 of us? would draw more attention." said Shikamaru, dryly.

They had reached the tower-and rather quickly as well. The loss of a day had ruined their chances of setting a record, considering that bloodthirsty psychopath who had likely finished the previous day, but they had nonetheless surpassed the old record.

"Scrolls." said Shikamaru, bored. "Everyone got theirs?"

There was a series of nods, each of the groups having the necessary pair.  
"Well, we'd best go our separate ways." said Kabuto, happily. "Nice to meet you all."  
"Yeah, thanks." said Ino.  
"It's good to know you." said Sasuke quietly.  
"We owe you big." agreed Naruto.

Waving, Kabuto entered the building, to a chorus of goodbyes.

"What do you have for me, Kabuto?" came the voice of Orochimaru, caressing him with its sound.  
He took a moment to enjoy it.  
"Well, Sasuke seems to be resisting…"

The Wolves gave no cheer for the successful second task. They were tired, worried, not to mention bored. They had been confronted by a bloodthirsty psychopath powerful enough to fight three of them off, an angry, vengeful Cloud Ninja who had every right to be so (And was currently following them), a team of Rock-nin hunting Ino-and the single most powerful missing nin to have come out of Konoha in the entire history of the village.

But… the task was over.

"Now… we can finally open these stupid scrolls." said Shikamaru.

A total of ten scrolls appeared almost instantly, hidden and packed away in various places.  
"Open them on three." he said. "One, two, three!"

Five loud puffs of smoke.

"You made it!" said a delighted Iruka.  
"Huh. Didn't see that coming." said Anko, cleaning her nails with a senbon.  
"Everything went well? asked Tsume.  
"YOSH! I NEVER DOUBTED THAT MY FINE STUDENTS COULD EMERGE VICTORIOUS!"

"Who are they?" asked a dark-skinned woman, with long black hair and a Kumo headband-apparently the Kumo-nin's jonin sensei.

Five jonin stared at each other.

"Aaaawkwaaaaard." murmured Naruto.

"The exam is over." said the proctor, Tenshi Sayna. "Whoop!"

Utter silence.  
"Geez, way to be unresponsive." she said. "Well, normally we'd have a set of preliminary exams to cut down the numbers…I mean, there are thirty six of you! Are any of you gonna quit?"

There was another brief silence, as people looked around the stone chamber. It looked like the psychotic boy was here… and the Iwa-nin who were after Ino.  
"I am. I just had to work really hard in this test. Besides, there's always next time." said Kabuto, with a smile and a shrug.

"Okay." said Sayna, after a pause, in which the medic-nin left. "Thirty five. Now, the feudal lords and the kages desire a series of battles greater than any other. So, we're going to give you… I think two weeks is enough time. Two weeks to train and prepare, and then. Then you _fight._" she grinned. "Good luck. We'll see you there. Now go, and try not to die on the way out of the forest."

…_huh. No fight scene this chapter, and therefore no moves... No wonder it bored me so much._

_Taken me a while, hasn't it? I'm real sorry. Life's been pretty non-shiny, and I've had SO MUCH drama work…I finish drama in… eight hours, max. 8D Should update faster then… also, a PM series has given me one hell of a plot for this fic. Stay tuned._


	11. Training

______

_Okay! I should get some fights done this chappie, so let's go, yatta!_

Disclaimer-Anything that's noncanon is mine. Anything that's canon is not.

Chapter Eleven-Training

"Has everyone got their training assignments?" said Iruka.

It was the next day, and the wolves were assembled in the courtyard of the Wolf's House. Iruka was handing out instructions for each of them, personalised training schedules for the next two weeks. Shikamaru was working with Daiki and Tsume, Tenten with Hayate for Kenjutsu and several of her family members to practice weapons techniques, while Lee was, predictably, getting extensive Taijutsu training with Gai and heavy Kenjutsu tuition from Hayate. Hinata was practicing Jyuken with her uncle, and some basic Suiton techniques with some of the village's Ninjutsu specialists. Kiba was learning Raiton techniques, as well as some of the higher level clan techniques of his. Neji was learning some Doton, and sparring occasionally with his father to keep up his Jyuken.

"Kame, we'd like you to work with some pure Katon users, you don't have many of them, and apart from that you can just work on your own techniques." Iruka said. The three ninja from outside, of course, had less to work with due to their unique fighting styles. "Manami, you're a little over-reliant on your clay techniques. You're going to be working with Tenten's family on some weapon techniques. Hanma, Naruto says your... sister was using Genjutsu, so we're going to have you work with Kurenai. Sasuke, that Taijutsu style you copied plays to your strengths, so Hizashi and Gai are going to help you perfect it. Ino, you're with the same people as normal, Anko and some of the demolitions experts. And Naruto, everyone knows you hate Genjutsu... so Kurenai's teaching you too. It's the last thing people would expect from you. We're also asking one of the specialist clans if they could teach something playing to your strengths."

Naruto looked positively mutinous over the enforced Genjutsu practice.

"You all know what you're doing?" asked Iruka. "Okay. Good luck-and don't forget to spend some time with Tsume, she's got a couple of special moves she wants to teach."

* * *

_Some time later_

* * *

"Well, Naruto. I've been told a lot about your Genjutsu skills, but none of them were right." said Kurenai in amusement. "You are beyond terrible. Given a few more months, I might manage to teach you a single working technique."  
"..." scowled the boy.  
"Look. You've only got two weeks." she said, exasperated. "If you want to keep practicing Genjutsu, then fine. But if you want to win... we managed to get the Daitai clan to teach you some of their techniques."

The Daitai clan.  
Naruto's eyes widened.

They were a clan that rewarded a large chakra capacity, and didn't much care for chakra control.  
They were perfect.

Naruto was going to be a summoner.

His eyes glazed over as he imagined hordes of half-feral hounds loping across a battlefield at his command, giant hawks blocking out the son, immense lions serving as a truly mighty steed...

"This is gonna be awesome." he grinned.

* * *

"Hold the rock over your head with chakra." said the Daitai family member, presenting Naruto with a stone almost as large as his head.

He almost dropped it instantly.  
"...What?" he asked. "Rika-san, how do I even do that?"

The woman sighed, looking around the clan training ground for guidance, passing over the small pond, waterfall, and trees, before staring at the sky in despair.. She was dark haired, with storm-grey eyes, wearing a black and blue set of robes, much liked the famed Genjutsu mistress Kurenai.

"Right, gaki." she sighed. "Look."  
She picked up another stone in one hands, and raised it above her head, before concentrating. A tiny current of chakra, the same colour as her eyes, curled up, forming what seemed to be a solid layer of chakra-that held the stone up, an entire inch above her hand.

"Wha... how?" he asked.  
"It's simple." she sighed, dropping the stone to the side-leaving a small crater in the ground. "Pick up the stone, and start forming chakra. If you let it leak too much, the stone won't float, but if you can condense it, it'll just float. You're meant to have a lot of chakra, gaki, it can't be that hard."

Naruto gulped. He cast his eyes around the clearing, and then went back to the small boulder his insane teacher wanted him to lift. He took two steps towards it, reached down, and pulled.

…

And pulled again.

…

"Now that's pathetic." said Rika, pushing him out of the way and lifting the rock. "Catch." she said, casually tossing it to him.

Naruto held his hands above him, ducking down.  
"Are you insane, Rika-san?" he said in terror.  
"Apparently not." she smirked.  
"You threw a rock bigger than me at my head!"  
"And you caught it."

Naruto stopped. Then he looked up. The rock was floating on a thin layer of blue chakra.

"Not bad, Naruto-kun." she said, not calling him a brat for the first time. "Not bad. You're not the sharpest kunai in the box, but you've got strong chakra. This style's gonna suit you down to the ground." she said with a feral grin. "Pick an animal."

Naruto's expression had gone from insulted to beaming, and he began casting his mind back, trying to think of a cool animal.  
"Umm… toads?"  
"Anything but toads."  
"Snakes?"  
"Or snakes."  
"Slugs?"  
"Are you doing this deliberately, Naru-gaki!"

* * *

It was much, much later when everyone had returned to the Wolfhouse. Past the young trees by the entrance, through the gates, into the building more impressive, although not quite as ornate, as any in the village, save the hokage's building.

"Today was so awesome." cheered Naruto, pumping his fist into the air.  
Sitting in a corner, Shikamaru yawned.  
"It was just practicing the same moves I already know. Troublesome." he complained.  
"It was too easy." complained Ino.  
"Yeah, well everyone knows you can overpower some jonin." interrupted Kame. "I think we should have a spar.  
"No." said Sasuke, sitting next to Ino. "You're not safe fighting anyone but the baka."  
"But he never does anything _interesting._" complained Kame. "It's all clones."

"You just wait!" said Naruto. "I'm gonna get stuff so cool you're too impressed to fight back!"

_

* * *

_

_Midnight_

* * *

"Why are we doing this in the middle of the night again?"  
"You were an hour late, sensei."  
"Well, there's a good reason for that. You see,"  
"Save it. I wanna start this special training."  
"You know, you can be a good ninja without going to this kind of extreme for versatility."  
"Well, I don't want to be a good ninja." smiled Naruto, eyes glittering. "I'm gonna be a great ninja, and I'm gonna be hokage someday."

As the two began the special training, the waters of the lake behind them shimmered in the moonlight, and large waves began to form.

__

* * *

_Plotty plotty plot. Yawn…. so, no fights. Sorry. Next chapter. Probably._


	12. The First Rounds

_Now… NOW we get to see some FIGHTIN'!_

Note: My old symbol for a scene change, three asterisks, is now removed by the fanfiction site. I plan to use the symbol (scene). Thank you.

Chapter Twelve-The First Rounds

"Welcome, at long last, to the Konoha Chunin exams!" called a loud voice, belonging to a woman with pigtails, green and braided. "Have we got a wonderful event for you today… the son of the Kazekage, one of the very last Uchiha… rumour has it that several competitors are already in the bingo books!"

There was a collective gasp of amazement from much of the audience. In the area where the thirty-five remaining ninja were gathered, Ino tried to look as non threatening as possible.  
Houfo, the Iwa-nin, glared at her.

"This competition shall take the form of a knockout tournament, until a single winner is crowned victorious. They will automatically reach chunin rank, but that doesn't mean the other participants cannot." said another woman quietly. She too had green hair, but it was in a single, long ponytail. "The chunin rank is awarded primarily on judgement, not merely skill. Even if you are defeated in the first round, you still have a chance." she said calmly, clearly treating this as a more solemn event than the other.

"We're your hosts,"  
"Proctors. We're the proctors."  
"We're your proctors, children of the heavens, this is Tenshi Lynna and I am Tenshi Becka!"

There was some applause, and surprise. The two were reasonably well known; adopted children of a powerful ninja known as the Heaven Sage.

"Let's not keep them waiting any more." said Becka jovially. "I hear we have three Kage here today, and I'm sure they're already a little bored. Let's begin the first battle!"

A screen lit up on the arenas wall, two silhouettes on it. The silhouettes began changing, rapidly, between all the competitors. Kanji to the side of each gave the genin's name-and then they settled suddenly.

Silence fell across the arena.

Becka's face went pale with worry as she saw the two.  
"Haruno Sakura of Konohagakure." said Lynna quietly. "Versus… Sabaku No Gaara, of Suna."

(Scene)

A swirl of sand indicated the jinchuriki's appearance in the arena, while the pink haired girl took a little longer to descend, taking the staircase. Up in the viewing boxes, two different coversations were going on.

"Stop the fight." said Kurenai. "She's better, but no matter what training she's had… I've heard of him."  
"We can't stop the fights, Kurenai. We just have to cope." said Asuma, grimly. "And… I have faith in her."

(Scene)

"Is this one of your precious Wolves, Hiruzen?" asked the Raikage, up in the box specifically made for the Kage.  
"She is not." said Sarutobi, with a shake of his head. He dearly hoped the child would win, hindsight had pointed out that only three 'normal' genin had graduated this year, the rest taken up by the wolves. Amazingly, each of them was participating in this exam.  
"Your girl should just quit." said the Kazekage. "No-one can stand against Gaara."  
At least, from what I hear, thought Orochimaru, under his disguise.

(Scene)

"Three. Two. One. Begin!" counted down Lynna, quietly, before shouting out the last word and leaping back.

Sakura immediately drew a kunai, throwing it at the boy as she darted of sideways.  
This is my chance, she thought. My chance to prove that I'm just as good as anyone.

The kunai clashed against a shield of sand that wasn't there moments before, and a tongue of the fine substance lashed out, narrowly missing her as she leapt sideways. Another pair of kunai met the same response, and Sakura scowled slightly.

Not giving up yet, she promised herself. She'd win this if she had to reveal every trick she'd hidden.

"Gimankaze." she murmured, forming a few short handsigns, and then crying out "Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Several members of the audience cried out in disbelief. A clone technique in a chunin exam?  
Sakura took no notice, three of her running off in different directions, as a cool breeze started blowing. Gaara's sand lashed out, but missed all of them, striking just a little to the left of each of them. Sakura accelerated, an impressive speed that was significantly above most ninja, the three clones surrounding Gaara. Another lash of sand came out, striking one of the Sakura, going through her like she wasn't there, although the Bunshin remained.

The breeze stopped.

"Shakishaki Tenshi!" cried out Sakura's voice. An arrow of gold-white light blasted outwards, as all three clones vanished, the real Sakura appearing out of nowhere near to the clone Gaara had disregarded. The arrow sped towards Gaara, who didn't expect it-

And struck his sand armour, just over his heart. The armour cracked-the force of the technique had clearly been enough to damage it, and would likely leave a bruise.

Gaara turned to face her, and a tendril of sand whipped out, then a second, then a wave of the golden stuff, rolling like water. Sakura had nowhere to go as it grabbed her legs, her arms, and lifted her into the air.

"Sabaku Kyu." said Gaara, calmly, as always.

Sakura took three moments to figure out that there was no way out.

"I… I surrender. I give in!" she said, sadly, quietly the first time, and then panicked.  
Gaara made no indications of stopping.  
The sand tightened slightly.

"Sabaku Soso-"

"Shakishaki Tenshi!"  
"Tentou Daigeki!"

A golden arrow sped through the tendril of sand linking Sakura and Gaara, and a blade of the same light slashed through the sand holding Sakura up. She fell to the floor, breathing deeply.

"This match is over." said Lynna, helping Sakura up, as Becka lowered a bow of white wood. "Gaara, of Sunagakure, is the winner."

There was a moment when Gaara looked truly mutinous, but, to the thankfulness of all present, it passed. A swirl of sand took him back into the box, while Sakura was taken up to the viewing platforms. Asuma praised her for her misdirection, her tactics, and most of all for knowing when to stop, but she was a little bitter that she'd had to fight a being that powerful. Something about him felt… wrong.

(Scene)

"And after the first round, which showed some skilful use of misdirection and genjutsu to secure an opening," began Becka, clearly a little bias towards Sakura. "We move on. Let's see who's next!" she said excitedly, as the board began to spin through names and images.

"Nara Shikamaru, of Konoha." she cried out. "And…. Aburame Shino, also of Konoha!"

The two boys met face to face on the battlefield. The signal was made to begin, but neither of them acted. On the ground next to Shikamaru was Kuroimaru, his ninken.

Silence.

"Don't think this will be easy." said Shino abruptly.  
"I have no delusions that this will be anything but troublesome…" muttered Shikamaru.

They lapsed into silence again.

And a lash of beetles drove towards Shikamaru, he and Kuroimaru avoiding it in opposite directions, Shikamaru throwing a kunai in retaliation-which Shino merely swayed to avoid.

"Kagemane no Jutsu." called Shikamaru, forming the trademark handsign. Shino leapt away, dashing backwards to avoid the creeping shadow, and a cloud of insects emerged to attack Shikamaru.  
"Mistake." said the Nara calmly. "A swarm of insects casts a lot of shadows."!

Under his glasses, Shino's eyes widened. One insect was no shadow at all, but…

"Kagemane: Success."  
"And now what?" said Shino. "We're both trapped."

"Kuroimaru." said Shikamaru simply. Shino blinked as comprehension dawned.

"Tsuuga." smiled Shikamaru, as his companion struck Shino from behind, breaking the technique and launching a Tsuuga of his own, catching Shino between the two of them.

Shino collapsed, bleeding from dozens of small scratches.

"The round is yours." he said, wincing as he, with some difficulty, stood. "I know when I've lost."

"Round two to Shikamaru, of Konoha!" shouted Becka, as Lynna provided Shino with some help and the medical-nin entered for him. "A real battle of wits there, but some clever tactics put Shikamaru into the second round. But let's move on quickly! Next… We have… Dageki Ikei, of Iwagakure, against Tenten of the Sequoia Wolves. I'm sure that these two girls will give us one hell of a fight!"

Tenten smiled slightly. She'd heard about this girl's prodigious melee power, and it seemed simple-stay out of range and bombard her with projectiles. Ikei, on the other hand, was sure that the girl would be easy prey.

Time would tell.

"Begin!"

Tenten began with a shuriken, throwing it at phenomenal speed.

Ikei caught it between two fingers, the edge upon her forehead, and smiled. A trickle of blood came from the tiny cut.  
She bought the shuriken down, licked it, and then snapped it with her fingers as if it were a twig.  
"That it?" she grinned widely, before dashing towards Tenten.

Tenten's eyes widened and she leapt away, speeding up a tree and launching a hail of kunai, each of which was deflected with apparent ease. Cursing, she performed the handsigns for her Blade Clone, two ephemeral copies of her, armed with katana, appearing next to the girl. They began to attack, powerful sweeping motions, and managed nothing. Their assault was deadly, and Ikei's defence was flawless. She danced around them, as if in some kind of intricately choreographed dance.

Then she seemed to get bored, and in a single moment struck the clones just where they held the blades, knocking them from their grasp. Unfortunately, this was the exact weakness of the technique-and they vanished. Ikei clearly knew her stuff.

Tenten cursed again, drawing a pair of scrolls from her side. She hadn't wanted to show this this early, but…

She placed them quickly on the branch before her, quickly moving through some hand signs, before leaping up into the air with a cry

"Soshoryu!"

The two scrolls shot into the air, looking like paired dragons for a split second, and Tenten stretched out her arms.

A storm of weapons flew for Ikei. Metal edges filled the air, the ground torn up by countless blades, blood splattering from dozens of small cuts.

And nothing larger. Ikei grinned. Tenten gasped in shock as she started to fall back down. This girl was too fast, too strong.

Ikei met her in the air and hit her, just once. Tenten flew like a missile to the wall of the arena, cracked it, and fell to the ground.

The ensuing silence was broken by Becka sadly proclaiming the Iwa-nin the victor.

(Jutsu)

Please bear in mind that I have an English-to-Japanese dictionary and nothing more. I have to use words that are NEARLY the ones I want. Put simply? These translations are what they SHOULD say, not what they do.

Gimankaze-Deceitful Wind

Shakishaki Tenshi-Angelic Precision

Sabaku Kyu-Desert Waterfall Coffin

Sabaku Soso-Desert Waterfall Funeral

Tentou Daigeki-Heaven Strike  
Kagemane No Jutsu-Shadow Possession Technique  
Tsuuga-Piercing Fang

Daiga Bunshin No Jutsu-Blade Clone Technique

Soshoryu-Twin Rising Dragons

(end)

_It's been a long time. A mixture of a growing habit of procrastination and the excuse of exams and school has led to me not writing very much._

…_finding and joining an awesome forum and learning so far three roleplaying systems might be part of it as well. (sweatdrop)_

_Here's to another update in less time!_


End file.
